Philippines’ Only Hope

It has been a year since a “people power” revolution ended Ferdinand E. Marcos’ dictatorship and gave Corazon Aquino the Philippine presidency, but the change of leaders has so far produced little in the way of peace, stability or economic progress. Last week Aquino’s military used force to bloodily suppress a leftist-backed demonstration in behalf of land redistribution. This week her army was called on to put down an attempted putsch inspired by the right. These were only the latest among the many tests that Aquino has had to face. She has shown a talent for surviving crises. She has yet to demonstrate an ability to govern.

Next Monday a tediously long new constitution will be submitted to a plebiscite. If approved, as seems likely, the new law will give Aquino a six-year presidency and answer the doubts raised by political enemies about her claim to a popular mandate. But a new constitution won’t of itself end Aquino’s problems or ameliorate those of the Philippines. On the right, pro-Marcos forces, among them that small fraction of Filipinos who control a vastly disproportionate share of the wealth, seem certain to go on conspiring against significant economic change. On the far left, Communist-led insurgents are preparing to press on with the rebellion that has already won them control of substantial parts of the countryside.

The survival of a largely feudal rural economy, along with continuing mismanagement and corruption, has left the Philippines far poorer and more threatened than it need be. It is not only a priority but also an imperative that Aquino face this issue squarely, beginning with a land policy that would at last give millions of rural poor the economic stake that they have always been denied. Aquino, who comes from the tiny ruling elite that benefits most from preserving the status quo, once talked boldly about land reform. Lately she has said little and done almost nothing. The right fears that she will finally act. The left benefits so long as she doesn’t. The choice, with the country’s future in the balance, is clear. Those same resources of courage and will with which Aquino challenged Marcos must now be turned to bringing about change. That is the Philippines’ only hope.